Regional Trajectories of Entrepreneurship, Knowledge, and Growth

Introduction.- Entrepreneurship culture and regional development.- Setting the stage: Self-employment and new business formation in Germany 1907, 1925 and Today.- The persistence of regional entrepreneurship.- The case of East Germany.- Regional entrepreneurship culture and growth.- The role of knowledge.- Traditions of self-employment and the entrepreneurial personality profile of the population.- Summary and outlook: What can be learned?

Michael Fritsch is Senior Professor of Economics at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany, and Research Professor at the Halle Institute for Economic Reseach (IWH). He is also Associate Editor of the academic journals Regional Studies and Small Business Economics. Michael Fritsch has received his degrees in economics (Diplom Volkswirt, Ph.D., Habilitation) from the Technical University of Berlin. From 1992-2006, he was Professor of Economics and Chair of Economic Policy, at the Technical University Bergakademie Freiberg, and from 2006-2018 he was Chair of Business Dynamics, Innovation, and Economic Change at the Friedrich Schiller University Jena. The main fields of his recent research are entrepreneurship and innovation. His publications comprise several hundred articles in scholarly journals and in edited volumes as well as diverse books. 

Michael Wyrwich is Interim Full Professor for Business Dynamics, Innovation, and Economic Changeat the Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany. He serves as member of the editorial board of the academic journal Review of Regional Research and as a member of the editorial review board of Small Business Economics. Michael Wyrwich has received his degrees in economics (Diplom Volkswirt, Ph.D., Habilitation) from the Friedrich Schiller University Jena. The main fields of his recent research are entrepreneurship. His publications comprise more than 30 articles in scholarly journals and in edited volumes. 

"Fritsch and Wyrwich have written a book with exemplar empirical studies on the role of entrepreneurship culture in the long-term evolution of regional economies. ... This context provides an excellent testing ground for hypotheses about the culture-entrepreneurship-growth nexus. ... These books substantially expand our scientific and practical knowledge about entrepreneurial ecosystems, start-up communities and entrepreneurship cultures. ... Good research not only provides answers but also raises new questions. These two books certainly do." (Erik Stam,Regional Studies, Vol. 57 (4), 2023)
"'Regional Trajectories of Entrepreneurship, Knowledge, and Growth: The Role of History and Culture' takes the reader on an empirical journey exploring how and why cultural factors related to entrepreneurship vary across regions, as well as how these variations impact upon rates of regional economic development. ... the concept of 'entrepreneurial ecosystems' has become a fashionable and potentially enduring means of understanding the components in places, especially regions, that impact upon on entrepreneurship." (Robert Huggins, Papers in Regional Science, Vol. 98 (3), June, 2019)